It's that time of year. New backpacks, notebooks, folders, lined paper, markers, new clothes, shoes, etc. Of course, since we're homeschooling again for (at least) one more semester, I have to put my own school shopping lists together. The school supply list is relatively short, but that's only because we have leftover items from last school year. In addition to that, I'll purchase items as we need them. I did make sure to buy extra Expo markers because we blew through so many of those! I never understood how my children's teachers went through hundreds of the each year. Now I FULLY understand it!
The back-to-homeschool clothes shopping is simple as well. Everyone got new pajamas, slippers, sweat pants, and sweat shirts. Easy peasy. Each year my parents take the minis school supply shopping and also take care of the necessary socks, underwear, etc. Now the lesson planning, that is one thing I wish was as easy as the clothes and supply lists!
All joking aside, for their back-to-homeschool wardrobe, I had to take into consideration that we'll be traveling much of the fall. Beginning our first week of school, we'll be living on a house boat for a week in northern Minnesota. That required a new life jacket for the youngest. Thankfully, everyone is set on swimming suits and water shoes (mostly because we spent May in Texas). We're planning on hiking more than usual, so everyone got a round of new hiking boots AND winter hiking boots. I added things like extra bug spray and sunscreen to our school supply lists. None of this is on your typical school supply list, but it made sense for these items to be on our's.
I've kept in mind that homeschool is a lifestyle for us, so unique baking ingredients, hiking gear, new instruments, and a few other oddities made our school supply lists. I twinge between jealousy and pity when I see my friends doing their back to school shopping for their kids. While those lists would indictate my life being that much more simple, I can't overlook how much fun we're bound to have in the beginning of our homeschool year.